BOG-POD

As a rifle hunter you know that when the time comes to the a shot few things are more important than being able to take a solid, steady rest. Many times a good rest is right there for the using—the rail on an elevated stand or shooting house, for example. Often, though, a solid rest either isn’t where you need it to be, or isn’t available at all. This is a common problem for westerners who hunt both flat, open ground and steep mountains that might require a cross-canyon shot.

The answer is to bring your rest with you. In that there are several different shooting systems on today’s market. You can affix a bipod to the rifle stock, something I abhor in all but a very few situations simply because it throws everything off balance. Or you can pack along a set of lightweight shooting sticks. This is my choice.

I have sued several commercially made shooting sticks over the years, but for many years now I have been using BOG-POD bipod and, mostly, tripod shooting sticks and accessories. The product line has evolved over time from a simple bipod to a tripod system that offers their “Switcheroo” shooting system that makes it quick and easy to add or subtract one of the many accessories available. These include everything from the Extreme Shooting Rest to professional camera adapters to large binoculars and spotting scopes. There’s even a special shooting rest designed for AR platform rifles.

There are several things I have come to really like about the BOG-POD over the years. First and foremost, it is a solidly-built, high-quality product that can take massive field abuse. I have taken them on everything from backpack sheep hunts in Alaska to horseback pack-in trips in the Rockies to southwestern open-country hunts where one is hiking 10 miles or more every day and never had a failure. I have even been known to extend the legs, fasten them together with a piece of parachute cord, and use them as a walking stick when packing meat! Second, the tripod legs extend and contract both quickly, independently, and quietly, making it easy to quickly build a rock-solid shooting rest even in steep, broken terrain. On long cross-canyon shots my own system is simple—set the sticks up and rest the rifle’s forearm, use my daypack to restmy back elbow, and shoot whatever it is that needs shooting.

BOG-POD’s are not cheap, retailing for a tick over a hundred bucks for a basic tripod, but they will last you a lifetime. They’re a product worth checking out.